ORCHID: To the Trumbull Neighborhood Partnership and Mahoning Valley Tree Corps for joining forces to plant hundreds of noninvasive trees in Warren over the next several years. Lydia Lynch, health and wellness coordinator for TNP, oversaw efforts last week to plant a set of trees on Vine Avenue SE and Atlantic Street NE. The project, which is being replicated in Youngstown with the Youngstown Neighborhood Development Corporation, will use grant funds to replace the fast disappearing natural green canopy throughout the city. Beyond aesthetics, it will assist in stormwater management, reduce air pollution from cars and factories, provide needed summer shade, cool homes, trim energy bills and encourage outdoor physical activity. This growing grassroots effort deserves widespread community support and nurturing..

ONION: To Cortland Mayor Deidre Petrosky and other officials in that community for scaring city residents by threatening to shut off their water service if they do not soon respond to a lead-pipe survey. Cortland is part of a nationwide sampling of cities for an Environmental Protection Agency initiative called “Get the Lead Out.” It is studying the abundance of health-threatening lead pipes with an eye toward their removal and replacement. Though city residents should be responsive to this potentially health-enhancing initiative, issuing such frightening threats without understanding individual residents’ circumstances is unacceptable.

ORCHID: To the more than two dozen restaurants in Mahoning and Trumbull counties that took part in the recent Chefs for Charity event at Eastwood Event Centre in Niles for raising approximately $45,000 for the good works of Catholic Charities Regional Agency of the Diocese of Youngstown. The success of the event translates into strengthening the many much needed community service programs offered by Catholic Charities, including outreach to the homeless, housing counseling and assistance, aiding victims of domestic violence and support services for senior citizens. If you missed the Chefs event, you can still donate to Catholic Charities online at ccdoy.org/give/.

ONION: To those who steal or deface political campaign signs during election season. Several reports of campaign signs being vandalized or stolen have cropped up in Ohio in recent weeks. Those who do so for kicks need to realize they are committing a crime and robbing people of their First Amendment rights to free speech. In Mayfield Heights, a suburban Cleveland community plagued by such vandalism recently, police Chief Anthony Mele vows to get tough, threatening such vandals and thieves with charges of property damage, theft and criminal trespassing. All law enforcement agencies in the state and the Mahoning Valley should follow his lead.

ORCHID: To Patrick Durrell and Curt Spivey, director and engineer respectively of the Ward Beecher Planetarium at Youngstown State University, for their dedicated work to restore and improve the facility after a devastating fire in January 2023. That fire destroyed the dome roof and many of the planetarium’s key features. Over the past 21 months, Durrell, Spivey and their staff have worked diligently with a variety of electricians, planetarium suppliers and installers to rebuild the facility and enhance the quality of its sky shows. That diligence and hard work paid off last weekend when the planetarium reopened to the public. Valley residents should make it a point to visit the new and improved planetarium weekends this month while enjoying its popular and updated Halloween program, “Nightlights.”

ONION: To those hooligans who are stooping so low as to use a national tragedy as a vehicle to shamefully scam individuals. Newton Falls Village Councilwoman Brenda Persino warned residents of reported telephone scams in which people are being asked to donate funds for Hurricane Helene victims. Federal, state and local officials have put out advisories this week warning hurricane victims and others of such fraudsters. Reported schemes include fake charities soliciting donations for disaster victims, fraudsters impersonating government officials doling out assistance, and sham businesses offering to help with recovery, Those who wish to donate to hurricane relief should do so through established and long-established and reputable agencies such as the American Red Cross.

editorial@tribtoday.com